You are here:

Transferable skills

Transferable skills enhance your first cycle, single cycle or second cycle degree programme by providing a rich array of knowledge and abilities that are highly valued in today's job market.

What they are

Transferable skills, also known as soft skills, reflect a person’s attitude and capabilities in the workplace. These non-technical abilities improve your interactions with others, enhance problem-solving, and help you manage work more effectively.

Unlike technical skills, which are specific to a particular field or job, transferable skills are applicable across all professional and personal contexts.

At the University of Bologna, you can take a variety of courses to develop these transversal skills alongside your regular studies.

Why they matter

Here are some reasons to take these courses:

They are free for students at our university.
They can open new opportunities and accelerate your professional growth.
They help create a more comprehensive and attractive CV for the job market.
They enrich you by providing new tools for future social and work relationships.
The World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs 2020” report identifies transversal skills as central to hiring processes.

Starting from the academic year 2024/25, these transferable skills courses:

do not provide university credits (ECTS)

award an Open Badge certification, recognized internationally. This digital certificate can be added to your digital CV to enhance your professional profile.

Who can enrol

Enrolment is open to students in bachelor's, master's, and single-cycle degree programmes. No specific prerequisites are required.

How to register

You can enrol from 17 September to 7 October 2024 by logging in with your university credentials (@studio.unibo.it) via the "Timetable and enrolment" link indicated in the overview of the programme that interests you.

How and when the courses will be held

Courses are held online on the Virtuale learning platform in synchronous or asynchronous mode and last 6, 8 or 12 hours.

All courses will take place between October and December 2024. Detailed information is published by the teaching staff on Virtuale in the area dedicated to each course.

It is not compulsory to attend the courses. See the individual course sheets for further information.

Courses for the a.y. 2024/25

This course will be of interest to you if you want to improve your skills in bibliographic research and use of sources for your thesis, carry out effective research, critically evaluate information and use citation management tools.
- Duration: 12 hours
- Language: Italian and English
- Method: blended
- Timetable and enrolment - Italian language edition
- Timetable and enrolment - English language edition
Why you might find it useful

This course is recommended if you want to improve your skills in bibliographic research and the responsible use of information sources. You will learn how to carry out effective research, critically evaluate information and use tools such as databaases, search engines and reference management tools. These skills are essential for your academic (thesis writing) and professional career because they help you ensure the accuracy of the information you use and the quality of the work you produce.

Degree programme schedule

1st meeting - Define and formulate your research

Set up your research / Formulate the question that defines your research / Connect the key concepts / Build the search query.

2nd meeting - Choose the resources and tools for your research

Use the tools (catalogues, search engines, databases, etc.) useful for locating and retrieving the resources necessary for your research (articles, monographs, data, etc.) thanks to the University library services.

3rd meeting - Evaluate the sources

Evaluate the sources based on general and specific criteria useful to critically establish their value. Learn how scientific information is organized and improve your ability to choose, analyze, evaluate and manage sources.

4th meeting - Use the resources

Organize the materials retrieved in order to communicate them thanks to reference managers and citation guides. Cite correctly from a formal, ethical and legal point of view, avoiding plagiarism and respecting copyright.
This course will be of interest to you if you want to learn how to promote accurate information about migration and engage in the debate to promote diversity and inclusion.
- Duration: 12 hours
- Language: Italian
- Method: blended
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

This course is recommended if you want to take a strategic and informed approach to the migration debate. You will learn how to recognise common thought patterns and develop new messages to communicate effectively with sceptical audiences, promoting values of diversity and inclusion for a more balanced and informed public dialogue. It is particularly suitable for those aspiring to roles in advocacy, journalism, education and volunteering, where the ability to engage with and transform polarised narratives about migration is crucial.

Degree programme schedule

The workshop builds on the experience and lessons learnt by the ICPA International Centre for Policy Advocacy in supporting the development of migration narrative change campaigns in Germany and Europe over the past six years and on the Migration Narrative Change Toolkit, translated into Italian and made available by Never Alone (www.narrativechange.org/it).

The curriculum is part of the 'A completely different story. New frame narratives against discrimination and hatred’ project, promoted by CISV, FOCSIV, PRO.DO.C.S., Compagnia di San Paolo, Helpcode Italia, Coordinamento Nazionale Nuove Generazioni Italiane (CONNGI), Coordinamento delle diaspore in cooperazione internazionale (CODIASCO), Libera Università Maria SS. Assunte (LUMSA), University of Turin and ImpactSkills srl. In cooperation with ACCRI, ADP, AIFO, APURIMAC, ASPEM, COMI, COPE, CVCS, IBO, IPSIA, MOVIMENTO SHALOM, PROGETTO MONDO.
This course will be of interest to you if you want to learn about the main approaches to disability and gender studies and how to deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices that lead to the exclusion and marginalisation of vulnerable and disabled people.
- Duration: 6 hours
- Language: Italian
- Procedure: blended
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course will enable you to explore the main theoretical approaches and guidelines of disability studies in relation to gender studies. You will learn how to identify and deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices that underlie processes of exclusion and marginalisation, and how to counter violence, including gender-based violence, against people with disabilities. The course is ideal for those who want to acquire the basic skills to work in advocacy, education or social and health services, and to promote the participation and social inclusion of vulnerable people.

Degree programme schedule

The course consists of four modules:
1. Identity and Difference: disability studies intersecting with gender studies.
2. Crossing narratives: deconstructing stereotypes and prejudices.
3. Social participation, active citizenship and advocacy processes.
4. Countering violence and promoting individual, group and community resilience.
This course will be of interest to you if you want to learn how to design educational and public engagement initiatives in the field of science outreach.
- Duration: 12
- Language: Italian
- Method: blended
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course will provide you with the basic skills you need to take an active part in civic life and communicate science effectively. You will acquire the skills necessary to plan and implement public engagement and science education initiatives suitable for formal and informal education, science outreach, project management for non-profit organisations, consultancy for private institutions and media content creation.

Degree programme schedule
- Case studies and media environment analysis
- Conception and design of a public engagement or citizen science initiative
- Delivering the work on the platform
- Final discussion
Why you might find it useful

The course will provide you with the basic skills you need to take an active part in civic life and communicate science effectively. You will acquire the skills necessary to plan and implement public engagement and science education initiatives suitable for formal and informal education, science outreach, project management for non-profit organisations, consultancy for private institutions and media content creation.

Degree programme schedule
- Case studies and media environment analysis
- Conception and design of a public engagement or citizen science initiative
- Delivering the work on the platform
- Final discussion
This course will be of interest to you if you want to develop skills in peacebuilding and trauma management in war contexts, in support of children and families.
- Duration: 12 hours
- Language: Italian
- Method: blended
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

This course will enable you to acquire basic skills in peace education in war contexts, focusing on the experiences of children and their families. You will learn theoretical approaches and international guidelines for peacebuilding and understand the impact of war on children and young people. You will be able to recognise and manage signs of trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder, preparing you to implement effective educational interventions in emergencies. These skills will be useful in education, humanitarian organisations, international institutions and local communities, enabling you to make an active contribution to reducing violence and promoting peaceful and sustainable communities.

Degree programme schedule

Session 1
- Changes during the 20th and 21st centuries and some figures.
- Getting to know some pioneers of educational work with child survivors of war (including Alfred and Francois Brauner, Janusz Korczak and Boris Cyrulnik)
Session 2
- Beyond the gaze. Deconstructing stereotypes and prejudices.
- The impact of extreme violence: signs and symptoms (PTSD), zones of proximal development and mediators in education.
Session 3
- Countering violence and promoting individual, group and community resilience.
Session 4
- Between past and present: building pathways for peace education and cooperation also in the field of education.
This course will be of interest to you if you wish to explore the link between Eastern body practices and neuroscience and to improve your wellbeing and interpersonal skills in educational, professional and personal settings.
- Duration: 12 hours
- Language: english
- Procedure: synchronous online
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course offers you the opportunity to explore and integrate Far Eastern physical and meditative disciplines, such as QiGong, with the latest findings in neuroscience. During the course, you will develop key transversal competences to improve your psychophysical wellbeing and enhance your communication and interpersonal skills. You will strengthen your theoretical knowledge of the close interdependence of body, mind and emotion, and the importance of an integrated approach to cognitive, emotional and relational learning. This course is ideal if you want to understand and apply these skills in educational, professional and personal situations, seeking to improve the quality of your life and daily interactions.

Degree programme schedule

Aspects of innovation

Understanding the mind-body unit as a resource and recipient of learning to educate oneself to access one's own resources and achieve and refine transversal learning objectives, including self-empowerment, self-efficacy, resilience.

Education through gesture: experience from eastern corporeal practices

Getting aware of our physical posture is not obvious but needs education, not only by intellectual understanding but also through real experiences. Eastern tradition moves from three irreplaceable key-points, to be aware of, to train and coordinate together: body – mind – breath.
- Posture adjustment: aligning the body segments, realizing the force that anchors on the ground and the force that extends upwords
- Regulation of attention: activating attention, driving it to specific points and keeping it stable
- Regulation of breathing: observing the presence of the breath and coordinating it with movement, in a slow and steady rhythm
Learning to discern, listen and feel

Every exercise is bound to enhance awareness of one’s own posture and correct it, in different situation: standing still, walking, sitting, laying.
Every exercise aims to let the person realise and feel:
- “I can find my place correctly in the space”
- “I can lead my attention to the gesture or even in static situation”
- “I am able to listen the rhythm of my breath, feel the right tension of my muscles, feel what is near, inside, and outside my bodily experience”
Giving voice to the body for a renewed culture of well-being meant as being-factor-of-goodness
- Attentive to listening to deep needs
- Capable of promoting personal and inter-personal awareness
- Promoter of experimentation capable of enabling recognition of the person's internal energies and conscious access to them
- Interpreter of life's skills through an understanding equipped both from a theoretical investigation perspective and from the perspective of the experiential instance
- Effective with respect to the internalisation of a sense of responsibility-responsibility
- Ready in giving tools - of reflection and action - adequate to realise correspondence between the sphere of idea-aspiration and appropriate life attitudes-conducts
This course will interest you if you want to improve the transversal competences most in demand in the workplace, such as critical thinking, effective communication, teamwork and time management.
- Duration: 8 hours
- Language: Italian
- Procedure: blended
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course prepares you for your future career by developing transversal competences that are essential for the world of work, combined with the specific knowledge and skills of each discipline. The programme gives you access to personalised action plans and practical resources such as presentations, videos, checklists and case studies to help you develop your critical thinking, problem solving, effective communication, teamwork and time management skills. These skills will prepare you to succeed in selection processes, integrate effectively into corporate environments and manage your career path, increasing your chances of finding a job and progressing in your career.

Degree programme schedule

The programme is delivered in three phases:
1. The concept of employability from a psychological point of view.
2. What transversal competencies are and why they are important in terms of definition.
3. Strategies for self-monitoring and developing transversal competences in the context of lifelong learning.
The materials shared during the synchronous lessons on Teams (4 hours) will then be made available on the Virtual learning platform at the end of each session and will cover various aspects of transversal competency development. These will include:
- PowerPoint presentations on specific topics such as self-assessment, the importance of transversal competences and strategies to improve specific skills such as time management and effective communication.
- Videos and interactive exercises that provide practical insights into how to apply the skills learnt in real work contexts.
- Time management checklist, which offers practical tools to better organise one's daily activities, increase productivity and reduce stress.
- Case studies and real-life case analyses to examine how transversal competences have been successfully applied in specific work contexts, providing concrete insights and reference models.
- Digital portfolios to guide course participants in collecting and presenting their experiences and skills, useful for job hunting or career development.
- Learning journals for tracking skills, encouraging personal reflection and self-monitoring of progress over time.
In asynchronous mode (2 hours), guidelines for creating and sharing the following on the Virtual platform:
- Individual action plans to help learners identify areas for improvement and set specific goals for developing their skills.
This course will be of interest to you if you want to explore the themes of the Anthropocene and ecological transition, combining scientific and humanistic knowledge to think about sustainable solutions to global challenges such as the climate and migration crises.
- Duration: 12 hours
- Language: Italian
- Procedure: synchronous online
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course allows you to explore the complex interactions between the environment, society and technology. It is particularly suited to those who wish to acquire critical interdisciplinary skills needed to address pressing global challenges, such as the climate and migration crises. The course prepares you to identify critical problems and develop innovative solutions by integrating knowledge from the natural and social sciences, humanities and technology. It will enable you to promote responsible action and work inclusively to build a sustainable future. This course is designed for those who want to make an active contribution to a radical and rapid ecological transition and promote inclusive human relations both locally and globally.

Degree programme schedule

The course consists of six sessions:
1. Culture and nature. We are the technologies
2. Who are we? Environments-humanity-technology co-evolution
3. Tales of doughnuts and urban resilience. New technological and ecological alliances
4. Transatlantic cables, earthworms, spaceships and symbionts. From the myth of progress to the reality of the Anthropocene
5. Inhabiting contemporary worlds. Diversity, mobility, media: imagining the future
6. Final summary and dialogue between teachers and students
This course will be of interest to you if you want to learn how to interpret and communicate data critically and consciously in different professional fields.
- Duration: 8 hours
- Language: Italian
- Procedure: online
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course will enable you to develop your skills in data analysis, management and reporting. You will learn how to identify manipulation, use institutional sources, create effective visualisations and communicate results through data storytelling. These skills will be useful in a range of careers and activities, including business decision-making, public policy analysis, journalism and academic research.

Degree programme schedule

Topics covered will include:
- How to obtain data: institutional sources, open data and ad hoc surveys
- The main types of data presentation: tables and graphical displays
- Data reporting errors
This course will interest to you if you want to develop the skills needed to write academic texts such as term papers, abstracts and dissertations in an effective way.
- Duration: 12 hours
- Language: Italian
- Method: online
- Timetable and enrolment
Why you might find it useful

The course will enable you to develop skills in writing effective academic texts. You will develop skills in the critical analysis of texts, using targeted writing techniques and metacognitive strategies useful for assignments such as term papers, abstracts and dissertations. You will learn how to communicate your work orally, for example in PowerPoint presentations. You will be able to apply these skills in a variety of contexts, including academic, research and the professional settings.

Degree programme schedule

The course will be delivered by two lecturers, Rosa Pugliese and Claudia Borghetti, who will alternate. Each of the six sessions will alternate between lectures and practical activities that will be carried out individually or in small groups. They will include, for example, analysing positive and negative examples of writing, peer-feedback sessions based on short individual exercises and plenary discussions aimed at identifying and improving each participant's writing strategies.

The course consists of six sessions:
1. University writing: from using sources to effective argumentation
2. University texts: strategies for writing exam papers, term papers, abstracts, etc.
3. A focus on the dissertation: how to break down complexity and write about it
4. A question of style: how to use academic language appropriately
5. From data to text: how to 'write science'
6. Between oral and written: how to present your research work

FAQ

Open Badges are presented as images, readable from any computer, and contain metadata about the competence that the badge certifies and the person to whom it was awarded.

Each badge is unique and, when read by a system that supports the OBI standard, provides information about the person who holds it: first name and surname, the date it was awarded, the competence it represents, how that competence was acquired and verified. All the information can be verified in real time from any OBI supported system.

An Open Badge has a strong communicative power due to the visual component of the image. The Open Badge is portable because any system that supports the standard can read its metadata and verify it by accessing the platform that issued it.
If you meet the attendance requirements for the year in which you chose the subject, you can take the exam. Please contact the relevant office to check your situation. You can write to aform.competenzetrasversali@unibo.it.

This FAQ relates to the Transversal Competence Plan that is in place until academic year 2023/24.